AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



PtrBLlSM::n by GEORGE C. BARRKTT, no. 52. north market STIIEET, (A.r.c„..tcr.l w.RK„ous..)I^^r^rFEssE^<ii^;^7EDi^ 



vou XV. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 24, 1836. 



(From Chaptal's Agricultural Chemistry.) 

 ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE BEET ROOT, 

 AND THE EXTRACTION OF SUGAR FROM IT. 



(Continued.) 



ON THE DISTILLATION OF BEET M0LASS1::S. 



The molasses from beets, when exhausted of its 

 stigar, has not the pleasant ta-te of that furnished 

 by the sugarcane, but retains a bitter taste which 

 renders it fit only for distillation. 



The product in molasses is as great as that in 

 sugar : ejch of the grandes-batardes in which ihe 

 product of the first boiling is crystrllized, yields 

 40 lbs. of molasses, and 45 lbs. of brown or unre- 

 fined sugar : these 40 lbs. of molasses, boiled over, 

 prodtice 6 lbs. of sugar and 34 lbs. of molasses; 

 thus from two boilings are obtained 34 lbs. of rao. 

 lasses, and 51 lbs. brown sugar. 



As this sugar is not pure, it is necessary, in or- 

 der to refine it, that it should be melted down, 

 crystallized and wUitened. By these operations 

 some molasses and some sirup is extracted from 

 it. The molasses flows from the motilds when 

 they are placed upon the jars, after the brown su- 

 gar has crystallizeil ; the sirup is formed during 

 the process of claying ; this is boiled over to ob- 

 tain tlie sugar dissolved in it, and the molasses 

 remaining is mi.ved with that in the jars to be dis- 

 tilled. 



The weight of molasses obtained by these vari- 

 ous operations is nearly equal to that of the brown 

 sugar. 



Supposing that I wish to produce fermentation 

 of 445 lbs. of molasses, to prepare it for distilla- 

 tion : I proceed in the following manner. 1 throw 

 the whole quantity of molasses into a vat and there 

 add to it stich a quantity of water as &liall cause 

 the liquor to mark 7 or 8 degrees of concentration. 

 I stir the mixture with the greatest csre, so as to 

 unite th* two fluids thoroughly. The vat is situat- 

 ed in an apartment of the manufactory, where the 

 tempernfure is, by means of a stove, kept constant- 

 ly at 20 or 22 degrees and I take care that the li- 

 quor be raised to 15 or 16 degrees before the yeast 

 is added to it. 



To make the leaven, which must be prepared on 

 the morning of the day in which it is to be used, 

 I form 25 lbs. of rye meal into a paste with mo- 

 lasses, and then dilute the paste with boiling wa- 

 ter, to which I gradtially add one quart of pure 

 molasses, kneading the mass thoroughly till it is 

 of the consistency of porridge : the heat of it in 

 this state should be 20 or 25 deg. When this lea- 

 ven is formed for a first operation, a little beer 

 yeast or leaven of wheat flower should be added' 

 to it. 



The bucket is covered over and set into a 

 place sufficiently warm to produce fermentation : 

 the yeast soon begins to swell and rises seven or 

 eight inches in the bucket ; at the end of twelve 

 or fourteen hours it is ready for use. The yeast 

 is thrown by small portiims at a time into the vat, 



NO. 7. 



the liqtior in which is stirred during the whole 

 time. 



Fermentation commences in the course of two 

 or three hours, and continues two or three days. 



The concentration of the liquid is gradually di- 

 minished, and at the end of the operation falls to 

 2 deg. 



Those substances foreign to the saccharine 

 principle contained in beets do not ferment, they 

 therefore prevent the degree of concentration from 

 being less than 2 deg. 



The next process is that of distillation ; the li- 

 quor is poured into the boiler of the nrcmbic 

 through a cloth strainer by which all the owsd^ud 

 bran contained in it are separated ; vvithout this 

 precaution, the liciuor would often asoend during 

 distillation into the worm. « 



When distillation is carried on in the improved 

 alembics, the first alcohol which passes' niarks 36 

 deg. of the hydrometer ; it becomes gradually 

 weaker till it stands at only 10 or 12 deg ; the op- 

 eration is then arrested. The mixture of the pro- 

 ducts forms spirit marking from 22 to 25 dci'. 



The after taste of this spirit is so bitter as to di- 

 minish its value in commerce: I have been able 

 to correct this fault by mixing about 2 1-4 lbs. of 

 animal charcoal with the liquor of each boiling; 

 this is 90 gallons : the spirit obtained by this pro- 

 cess difl^crs but little from wine-brandy. 



I redistil [:early all the spirit over a naked fire, 

 employing for it the satne proportion of animal 

 charcoal, and convert it into alcohol of 34 deg. 



The sale of the alcohol is more easy and prof.t- 

 able than that of the spirit, as this qtiality of 

 alcohol is in much request among the manufac- 

 turers of colors for dissolving their resins. 



I once thought that it would be more advan- 

 tageous to leach the mass of the beets in order to 

 mix the juice thus obtained with the molasses, and 

 to fetinent them together, but experience has un- 

 deceived me : the juice ferments and the molass- 

 es does not then undergo decomposition, it is 

 found in the boiler unchanged, I have Ibtind the 

 same results to be produced, when I have mixed 

 the must of grapes with molasses. 



200 kilogrammes yield upon distillation about 

 13 gallons of .-spirit of 22 deg.: these 13 gallons 

 produce 6 1-2 gallons of alcohol at 34 deg. The 

 expenses of the operation may be calculated 

 thus. 



One man who con'lucts all the operations and 

 distillation of it in one day, 1 franc 50 centimes. 

 Ten kilogrammes of rye, 1 " " 



Pit coal, 3 " 



Animal charcoal, 50 



From this it appears that the profits are not 

 great, but distillation gives an actual value to mo- 

 lasses which i.s worth nothing. 



O.V THE PRODUCTS OF A BEET SUGAR MANUFACTOR». 



In the estimate which follows, I have always 

 value.l the prorlucts at the lowest rate, and the ex- 

 penses !it the highest. 



In estimating the value of the products of a 

 Migar manufactory, I will suppose that 10,000 Ibe. 

 of beet roots are operated upon each dav ; howev- 

 er, as beets cannot be employed till after they have 

 been cnreftilly trimmed, there is perhaps a loss of 

 one-.s,xth part of that weight; thus in order actu- 

 ally to work 1 pon 10,000 lbs. of beets, it is neces- 

 sary to employ 12,000 lbs. so as lo allow for thi« " 

 loss. 



The products of a sugar manufactory are of two 

 kinds ; the first consists of the sugar, the second is 

 furnished by the molasses, the mash, and the trim- 

 mings of the beet root. 



OF THE PaODOCT IN SUGAR. 



The product of the concentrated sirup obtained 

 from 10,000 lbs. of trimmed beets will fill eight 

 moulds, each of which will contain 47 lbs. of 

 good brown sugar ; this makes 376 lbs. 



The molasses obtained from the 



moulds furnishes one-sixth as 



much stigar as is obtained by 



the first operation, equal to 62 2-3 



Total, 438 2-3 lbs. 



This quantity of brown sugar will, when refin- 

 ed, produce at least 40-100 of very good double 

 refined sugar; and 15-100 of sugar of an inferior 

 quality obtained from the molasses and sirups ; 

 the whole quantity of sugar being 55-100. 



.According to this, the average quantity obtained 

 by an operation skilftilly conducted is, 



In sugar of the first quality, 187 lbs. 



In sugar of the second quality, 60 



Total 6 francs 

 The conversion of this spirit into alcohol of 34'= 

 costs as follows: 



Day's wages, 1 franc 50 centimes. 



Pit coal, 3 



Animal charcoal, 50 



Total, 244 lbs. 



ON THE SE'CONDARY PROFITS. 



. The operations upon 10,000 lbs. of beets per day 

 produce : 



In '"ash 2,511 1-2 lbs. 



In molasses about 280 



Tlie trimmings^ of 10,000 lbs. 2,226 



ON THE VALUE OF THE PRODUCTS. 



84 kilogrammes (187 lbs.) of 

 good refined sugar at 2 

 francs 5 centimes per kil- 

 ogramme, 210 francs 



30 kilogrammes, (60 lbs.) of 

 middling sugar, at 2 francs 

 25 centimes perkilogram- 

 "le, 67 50 



Total, 5 francs 



Total, 277 francs 50 

 To give a value to the secondary products of 

 the opei ation upon 10,000 lbs. of beet roots it is 



